Sunday 21 April 2013

It's all architecture

The Guardian has an article on the Milan Furniture Fair in which its correspondent identifies the "best gadget".

The "gadget" in question turns out to be a steak knife. "Gadget": origin obscure, originally in nautical use: a small tool or piece of mechanism; an accessory or adjunct especially of a trivial nature. This is as much as the Guardian is willing to show us of the small tool.



Perhaps it thought that as the complete item costs £170 that is as much as we needed.

The designer is John Pawson, the highley regarded architect:

"People are surprised by how long it takes to make something as apparently simple as a knife," says celebrated architect John Pawson of his new steak knife. The blade, created for When Objects Work, a Belgian company that produces exclusive objects by leading designers, took three years to develop. "When it comes to a house, people understand a life cycle measured in years, but for me it's all architecture – there's essentially no difference in the way I set about designing a building or a table." Made by Kai, the Japanese master craftsmen and makers of Samurai swords, the Damascus-steel blade features 16 ripple-like marks. The ebony handle is elegant, slender and beautifully balanced. £170

Architecture: the art or science of constructing edifices for human use.